Nicholas has a new favorite “thing”. I can’t call it a toy because…well, it’s not. But he loves it and my heart swells every time I see him with it. 

His new favorite thing is the American flag. I kid you not. In the past week he has been on the lookout for flags. Everywhere. 

 (He can’t quite say “flag” appropriately yet so as much as we try- the “l” sound is still hard for him. Embarrassing at times? Perhaps. But we try & correct and move on. And thankfully those who have heard it are so enamored with why in the sam hill a 21 month old is so excited about the flag that they ignore him mispronouncing the word.)

On Saturday morning we decided to go with daddy on one of his “it’s Saturday & so we must go to Home Depot today” weekly runs that he is all too famous for. We hopped on one of the shopping carts with a race car attachment on it. 

By the way I don’t know who thought about adding that contraption onto a cart but I think I speak for a lot of mamas when I say Thank you. You bring me sanity. Between that and the free cookies at Harris Teeter I might as well be at the spa. 

As we were waiting for daddy to find the hose bibs, connectors, pipes, and other “dad” things N & I perused the store. As we turned the corner into the patio section N started to shout & point “Mama. Flag! Flag mama!”. I quickly spotted the display & said “Yes, buddy you can have a fLag.” I pulled a 78cent flag out of the display and handed it to him.

He was so happy. I mean kid on Christmas happy. He waved that flag through the store while we looked for Andy. When folks would stop he would wave his flag and say “FLAG!!!”. Folks laughed. I laughed.

After we had shown practically everyone in the store our flag we found Andy. And we went to checkout. I took the flag to have it scanned so we could pay for it & Nicholas screamed “Not my flag mama!”. After we paid for it I gave it right back to him. 

He held it all the way home. (Try putting a 21 month old who comes from 2 stubborn parents in a car seat when he wont let got of his flag.) He ate lunch with his flag. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t nap with this flag. He was only satisfied when it too laid down for a nap. He asked for it as soon as he woke up. He ate snack with it. He & I had a “falling out” (read total meltdown) when I explained the flag doesn’t take baths so it shouldn’t get wet while you take yours. It went with us (in our car seat) to our godparents house for dinner. And yes when we came home it had to go to bed just like we do. 

You would think he would’ve woken up this morning and have forgotten about his 78 cent flag. Well, friends you like me would’ve been wrong. After church he wanted to know where his flag was. We ate after church hot dogs with our flag. We put our flag down for a nap before taking our own. We got up, shared our snack, and watched a movie with our flag. 

We could learn a lot from Nicholas & his flag. Love. Gratitude. Comfort. Respect. He might not know exactly what he is cherishing right now in that 78 cent replica but I’d like to think in a few years he’ll be just as in love with the red, white, & blue as he is today.

Enjoy these few photos of a boy & his American flag.